Texas Rangers pitcher Robbie Ross and his wife, Brittany, both Christians, posed for a NOH8 photo to speak out about how their support for LGBT people is part of their faith.
Ross wore a bracelet that said, “In Jesus name I play,” and showed off two tattoos with Bible verses Mark 9:23and James 4:10.
Ross told Outsports he and his wife wanted to how that they as Christians support the fight for LGBT equality and wanted the picture to portray that.
“Being in sports, and being around all kinds of different people, you just want to accept everyone for who they are,” Robbie told Outsports. “My wife Brittany and I are Christians, and we believe we as Christians should love everyone and show everyone love, and if this is the best way to do it, then we want to support them.”
“It genuinely breaks my heart,” Brittany said. “We’re all human, and we can all take things from the Bible and twist them however we want. You can basically take a verse from the Bible and say it’s OK to beat your wife, but the world says that’s not OK, so that’s what we go with. And I think the world is saying that gay people in the community are OK. Jesus came to love people. He never persecuted anybody. There are a lot of confusing things in the Bible, and I think if anything is confusing and it promotes hate, then you’re taking it the wrong way.
“Being gay shouldn’t just be tolerated, it should be celebrated that people can embody who they truly are,” Brittany added. “I think that’s the main thing.”
The Texas Rangers haven’t always been supportive. A homophobic tweet last year sparked controversy. Before that, the team was supposedly going to shoot an “It Gets Better” video for LGBT youth, but ended up making an anti-bullying PSA without mentioning LGBT issues.
